


Dolicophis

by adspexi



Category: The Girl Who Became a Boy (Albanian Fairy Tale), Vajza qe u bë djalë atau | The Girl Who Became a Boy (Fairy Tale)
Genre: Conflicting Religions, Gen, Snakes, Wild Mythological Extrapolation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-03-03
Updated: 2018-03-03
Packaged: 2019-03-26 06:58:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 594
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13852470
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/adspexi/pseuds/adspexi
Summary: In a tiny village, there was a church, and in that church, there were a great many snakes. This is their story.





	Dolicophis

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Rosencrantz](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rosencrantz/gifts), [spoken](https://archiveofourown.org/users/spoken/gifts).



> This treat goes out to spoken and Rosencrantz, both of whom wanted to know more about the snakes and their tax evasion. This is not precisely the snic, or snake fic, that you requested, but I hope you enjoy anyway.

In a sleepy village near the border, there was a temple full of serpents. The Goddess who was worshiped there was of an old religion brought by an old, old conqueror: so old that the people could remember neither his name, nor even the name of the Goddess whose temple it was. Indeed, the Goddess’ temple was so old that people from the neighboring towns, when they passed by, would murmur among themselves: “How odd that these yokels should worship that heap of vipers!”

But these serpents, being the Goddess’ symbol, were no ordinary sort. It was said among the people that if you let the serpents lick your ears, you would learn the language of the beasts; that, when there had been a priestess, the serpents had told her all manner of secrets; and that if you killed a mating pair of serpents, you would be changed forever, though the legends did not specify how. So the people venerated the snakes, and both parties were better off for it; but no god’s rule lasts forever. 

After many years, the far-off King of that country converted to the new religion, and sent out a decree over all the land that the old temples must be destroyed. In their place, the people were to build new churches to the new, singular God. The people cared little whether they worshipped many gods or merely one, but the old gods cared very much indeed. And the Goddess grew angry, and cursed the ground on which this last temple of hers stood. “No church,” she said, “will stand on this spot, lest it teem with vicious serpents such as the world has never seen.”

And by the King’s mandate, the church was built; and by the Goddess’ decree, the church was overrun.

These serpents made a mockery of the old legends. They understood the human language, they knew all the people’s secrets, and it was whispered still that they would change you forever if you crossed them. Those who worshipped the new God could not enter the church for fear of being bitten to death, but the Goddess’ people worshipped freely. 

The season came in which the King demanded tribute: cattle for his pastures, and seed for his granaries, and gold for his churches. The people of the kingdom gave what they could to the churches, and the people of the village did the same; but their church, of course, was not of the new God. They brought money to the serpents more out of spite than out of any real need, for the snakes found their own food and the building was sound. For many years, the King’s men rode into the village to demand the tax, and for many years, the people told the men, “Go into the church and bring it out yourself.” 

And so the people and the snakes were both happy, but happiness cannot last forever. 

One day the King’s champion came to the village, demanding tribute. As ever before, the champion demanded the King’s tax, and as ever before, the people told the young man where to go. He came with bells and beasts and made a horrendous outcry, such that the snakes were frightened, and before the people knew it, the champion had vanished with the Goddess’ gold. 

It was said afterwards that the serpents had pursued him, and cursed him, and used their secret power to change him forever; but no one was sure of this, for the young man rode off looking just as he had when he arrived. 

**Author's Note:**

> All of this is vaguely based on other, adjacent myths. Albania and modern-day Greece share a border, so I took a bunch of Greek snake myths and ran with them.  
> The Goddess was inspired by the snake-holding goddess figurines found in Crete.   
> The Ancient Greeks did believe that if serpents licked your ears, you would learn languages. The Oracle of Delphi is rumored to have been given prophecies by snakes, or (in modern interpretations) to have entered trances from snake venom. And the story of Tiresias speaks for itself: a man killed a pair of mating snakes and, in punishment, was "transformed into a woman."


End file.
